Hey all,thank you for taking your time and visiting my site! As I leave for Beijing, China tomorrow I’m filled with excitement. I want to update this site as much as I can covering wide range of topics that include culture, linguistics, politics and music! Trust me they all come together somehow. But as I prepare for my big day tomorrow, I want to start off this site with some pictures I’ve took so far in Japan in the last 4 weeks that I’ve been back. After graduating from college I finally had the time to just hop on a train and travel within Japan just for the sake of traveling.

Well, here’s my top 5 Favs of June!

“My Grandma’s Old Shop”

During this break I traveled from Tokyo all the way to the southern part of Japan, Miyazaki Prefecture to see my grandma. She told me that she used to run a store, in Japanese called Ara-mono-ten, which sold goods like what you would see at a Crate and Barrel or a William Sonoma. Basic tools that a house wife would need back in the days. She said that this concept was still very new and she sold a lot! I got this throwback photo from my grandma's old photo album from the 1950s.

“Koi Fish at 5 Color Lake in Fukushima Prefecture”

This trip to Fukushima prefecture wasn't really planned but my friend wanted to go here so we decided to hit up the city of Kooriyama. I really don't recommend this city since when night falls, people seem to disappear and the only people on the streets were hookers and hostess bars. It' s quite rare to find a city like this in Japan nowadays. But since we wanted to see the famous 5 color lake in the outskirts of the city we decided to stay. After a couple of hours of taking the train and the local buses we ended up with straight up nature. The 5 color lake reminded me of the World heritage Site in China of Jiuzhaigou. The color of the lake was turquoise, as the sun light creates this magic. The one in China was a lot bigger in size but none of them had Koi Fishes in them! aha! None the less it was beautiful.

“Masamune Date’s Grave“

It's not too often in the states to visit historically known individual's graves but in Japan I guess it's a pretty common thing to do. I visited Masamune Date's grave. Masamune Date was a great Japanese Samurai also known as "one-eyed dragon" for he was a tactician who won battles with one eye. This picture was taken around Masamune's grave. Masamune's grave itself was colorful and all but I really like the surrounding environment which gives out a really Japaneezy feel.

“Slam Dunk’s Author, Yasuhiko Inoue’s Exhibit in Sendai“

This photo was taken outside the Yasuhiko Inoue exhibition in Sendai. If you guys know who he is you must've read the entire series of "Slam Dunk" and "Real". If you haven't I really recommend you go to Barnes and Noble now and get a copy because this guy is a world wide phenomenon. His art is unbelievable. I like it when art and the city come together in public.

“Don’t Mess with Hiroshima Carp Fans”

As the name of this picture states, you really don’t want to mess with anything Hiroshima: food, people, chicks, etc.. well especially HIROSHIMA CARP FANS. After getting back to Tokyo I visited a friend over in Chiba prefecture. And what do you know? There’s a baseball game going on. Chiba Lotte Marines vs. Hiroshima Carp. Baseball in Japan is huge. Maybe more popular than soccer and sumo wrestling combined. Well anyways, these cheer leaders or fans or whatever they are, are crazy. In the states if one were to go to a game, one would grab a beer and buy some over price polish hot dogs and sit back and enjoy the game. But when you go to a Hiroshima Carp game, they make you cheer their way.. which usually is a combination of non-stop yelling and standing up and down. They have trumpets and cheers for every single player on the roster. This photo was taken from the outfield and the guys with the red outfits are the intense Carp fans drumming and trumpeting the hell out of the stadium. Fun times.